Environmental impacts of key metals’ supply and low-carbon technologies are likely to decrease in the future
Open accessAbstract
The environmental benefits of low-carbon technologies, such as photovoltaic modules, have been under debate because their large-scale deployment will require a drastic increase in metal production. This is of concern because higher metal demand may induce ore grade decline and can thereby further intensify the environmental footprint of metal supply. To account for this interlinkage known as the “energy-resource nexus”, energy and metal supply scenarios need to be assessed in conjunction. We investigate the trends of future impacts of metal supplies and low-carbon technologies, considering both metal and electricity supply scenarios. We develop metal supply scenarios for copper, nickel, zinc, and lead, extending previous work. Our scenarios consider developments such as ore grade decline, energy-efficiency improvements, and secondary production shares. We also include two future electricity supply scenarios from the IMAGE model using a recently published methodology. Both scenarios are incorporated into the background database of ecoinvent to realize an integrated modeling approach, that is, future metal supply chains make use of future electricity and vice versa. We find that impacts of the modeled metal supplies and low-carbon technologies may decrease in the future. Key drivers for impact reductions are the electricity transition and increasing secondary production shares. Considering both metal and electricity scenarios has proven valuable because they drive impact reductions in different categories, namely human toxicity (up to −43%) and climate change (up to −63%), respectively. Thus, compensating for lower ore grades and reducing impacts beyond climate change requires both greener electricity and also sustainable metal supply. This article met the requirements for a Gold-Gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges
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Electricity consumption is influenced by resource characteristics (e.g., ore grade and mineralogy) and technology.
“It is noteworthy that electricity consumption is influenced by resource characteristics (e.g., ore grade and mineralogy) 29,30 and technology.”
From Decarbonizing lithium-ion battery primary raw materials supply chain (2024) · cites this paper as [30]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Harpprecht, C., van Oers, L., Northey, S. A., Yang, Y., & Steubing, B.
- Affiliations
- Leiden University (NL)
- Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands
- University of Technology Sydney (AU)
- Delft University of Technology (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Harpprecht, Carina
- Venue
- Journal of Industrial Ecology
- Published
- 2021-09-05
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1543-1559
- ISSN
- 1088-1980 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-9290
- OpenAlex
- W3198878814
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 2.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Industrial Ecology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- elib (German Aerospace Center) (acceptedVersion)
- Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Research Repository (Delft University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Extraction and Separation Processes
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis
- Keywords
- low-carbon technologies, photovoltaic modules, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, ore grade decline, secondary production, environmental impact, climate change impacts, human toxicity, image models, energy efficiency improvement
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